A freedom of information (FOI) request, brought by a disability campaigner who goes by the name of Ben Claimant, found the nine-month legal action cost the DWP almost half a million pounds.
The FOI found the DWP spent a total of £465,804.05 defending the court case against Clifford. The total represented £211,345.42 in litigation costs as of 21 January 2025, and the DWP has been ordered to pay £254,458.63 in claimant costs.
According to the FOI, the claimant costs represent 60% of the amount Clifford is estimated to have spent in bringing the claim.
The FOI’s response added that the DWP “does not intend to appeal the High Court’s ruling”.
Clifford described the FOI findings as uncovering a “staggering amount of public money”.
“The picture this presents is of a government hell-bent on depriving disabled people of income supports we need to survive, knowingly pushing hundreds of thousands of the poorest and most disadvantaged in society into deeper poverty and hopelessness with no escape,” Clifford told the Big Issue.
She continued: “All those with experience of disability need now to speak up and challenge the idea that people claim disability benefits because we can’t be bothered to work and are incentivised by the higher rates that are paid to disabled people who face substantial barriers to employment.”
Clifford added that the WCA has always been criticised for being “too tough”, and it is “inconceivable that Labour don’t know how few people in receipt of these benefits will ever be able to work”.
“Which means they know the human cost of pushing through disability benefit cuts, and are perfectly prepared to sacrifice lives for whatever it is they think they are doing,” she added.
Disability Rights UK congratulated Clifford on “achieving this important legal victory”, adding that the results of the FOI “highlight what a failure this whole process was”.
“Without her steadfast, principled and brave campaigning, the DWP would not have suffered the conclusive loss it has. The FOI highlights what a failure this whole process was, with nearly £500,000 wasted by the government,” Mikey Erhardt, campaigner at Disability Rights UK, told the Big Issue.
Erhardt continued: “The ruling that cost savings were at least one, if not the ‘central basis’, that was the impetus to the proposed reforms should be a wake-up call for the current government, which seems intent on bringing similar proposals forward in the spring.”
Erhardt added that the government is “repeating” claims that cuts to the benefits budget are “about getting disabled people into work”, saying any further consultations into welfare reforms will need “accessible versions from day one and longer than 12 weeks for the consultation period”.
“Will the government provide them, or will another brave campaigner have to bring them to court to do so?” Erhardt asked.
The campaigner known as Ben Claimant added: “The Labour government has said it wants to do things differently, that it wants to treat claimants with respect and dignity. But in pursuing this case and spending such a huge amount of money, they sent out a completely different message.
“It feels like Labour is doubling down on what the previous administration was trying to do. The disabled people I know are very worried and anxious about what Labour has planned for them. What they need is stability and security but instead we are being victimised (again) for the failure of government over the last 15-plus years.”
John McDonnell, independent MP for Hayes and Harlington and Labour’s former shadow chancellor, previously commented on the legal action, claiming the DWP had a “disregard for the implications of the work capability assessment” on disabled people. He added that the legal action was “one of the most significant cases for disabled people that I have seen in the last couple of decades”.
“I think if we are successful, which I think we will be, it could force a whole rethink both in terms of the cuts themselves and also future policy,” he told Disability News Service in December 2024, ahead of the ruling.
McDonnell said the previous Conservative government had shown “a complete disregard for the human suffering that took place and the many lives that were lost”.
In his opinion, Clifford’s case would “demonstrate just how callous that government measure was, but also their complete disrespect for the very people this policy hurts”.
A government spokesperson said: “The judge has found the previous government failed to adequately explain their proposals. As part of wider reforms that help people into work and ensure fiscal sustainability, this government will re-consult on the work capability assessment changes, addressing the shortcomings in the previous consultation, in light of the judgment.
“We intend to deliver the full level of savings in the public finances forecasts.”
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